Kelly Gay

I wrote my first story in 1st grade - about a watermelon who could talk and became friends with a young girl. Many years later, my writing evolved :-) in the form of screenplays for which I received many awards and finalist placings such as the Disney Fellowships in Writing, Austin film Festival, ScreenArts Foundation, Hollywood Symposium, Open Door, Red Inkworks... Primarily I wrote romantic dramas and comedies. I've gone to Hollywood several times to pitch projects and meet producers. I have a wonderful creative partner, a former producer of the TV show, ALIAS. I also had the opportunity of meeting several of the actors on the show -- a highlight of my career thus far. A few summers ago, I was awarded a grant fellowship in screenwriting by the North Carolina Arts Council.

Eventually, screenwriting led to fiction. I wrote my first novel in a studio apartment in Burbank, California five years ago. With a three week span of alone time, I started and completed the book, a romantic comedy, only stopping to eat, shower and sleep. The book was awful! But, I proved to myself that I could write a novel. After that, I didn't stop.

Once I actually commit to an idea (the hardest part for me since I have an ever-growing notebook of ideas), I write pretty quickly. I've written seven novels to date, (a few screenplays and reality TV shows in between), and a few works in progress that may never, EVER, see the light of day. I've written in many genres: mainstream, romantic comedy, and paranormal/fantasy fiction. After going through all those genres and screenplays, I'm relieved to say I finally found my niche -- urban fantasy and YA fantasy.

2005 was a great year for me; in fiction, I won the Laurie award for best single title manuscript for my book, BED & BREAKFAST, which was also nominated for an RWA Golden Heart award in the paranormal category.

I've spent the last three years writing two more novels, the last of which, garnered me my wonderful literary agent, Colleen. After signing with Colleen, I learned that two of my manuscripts finaled in the 2008 Golden Hearts, making me a three-time GH finalist!

And finally, in June 2008, I sold my urban fantasy novel in a two-book deal to Pocket Books. I'm now hard at work on the sequel to my debut novel, THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS.